Here Is Gone
by OscarInTheCan
Summary: Babe has finally revealed to Bianca that Bess is Miranda. My version of what should have occurred between the two in that hotel room in Florida.


**A/N: I wrote this in 2004 at the culmination of that horrible Babe/Bianca baby switch storyline. I was so irritated at the direction the show was taking, and all of the Babe fluffing, that I decided that this scene needed to be rewritten. I had considered continuing (as the slight cliffhanger would indicate), but I just gave up on the show not too long after that. **

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"And now what?" Bianca asked, her voice wavering as she put her daughter in the nearby playpen.

"Wh—what do you mean?" Babe questioned, crying as she always does in any situation.

"I mean, what do you expect from me? Do you want forgiveness? Are you expecting me to, now that you have confessed?" Bianca's voice was raising to a yell. "Right? Because confessing somehow erases eight months of lies, deceit, and more lies?"

"No, Bianca. I don't expect anything from you. I just wanted you to have your daughter back."

"Oh, that's just so generous of you. I get to have my child back, the baby that you watched me mourn, now that it is convenient for you. Your marriage goes down the toilet because you lied and cheated on your husband and now I deserve to have my daughter."

Bianca had never felt anger such as this in her life. She was shaking now and bile was rising in her throat with each word. She was finding it hard not to physically hurt this woman. This was someone she used to call her best friend. The person she trusted above all others, and for whom she was willing to destroy every other relationship in her life.

"Bianca, no. It wasn't like that. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to hurt you but I – I – I knew it was wrong," Babe quivered.

"Oh, she knew it was wrong!" Bianca shouted, "Let's give the girl a prize!" Her hands were now fists and she was working hard not to reach back and throw a right cross.

There was a knock at the door and seconds later Kendall entered the room.

"Hey guys, what's with all the shouting? You missed the end of the—" she stopped cold seeing the look on her sister's face. "Binx, what's wrong?"

Bianca responded without taking her eyes off Babe. "Do you see that little girl back there?"

"Yeah, that's Bess. Bianca you're scaring me."

"No, that isn't Bess. That's your niece. She's Miranda."

"What!?" Kendall's jaw dropped. "How—how is that possible?"

Bianca began to speak, her voice dangerously low and her eyes never moving from Babe who looked fearfully from Kendall to Bianca. "It's a great story, really. You remember how you told me you suspected that Bess was Miranda after hearing Babe calling her by that name? And how it wasn't possible because Joe Martin ran a DNA test?"

She saw her sister's head nod out of the corner of her eye; Kendall's mouth was still agape.

"It turns out that Krystal switched the DNA so that it would read that Miranda did, in fact, belong to Babe. Soon after, my best friend here figured out the truth: It was really her baby that supposedly died in the river that night. But because Adam and JR scared Paul Cramer he said it was my daughter that was lost. She then decided because she loved JR, much more than me, she would keep my child and let me suffer. Everything she has said to me over the past eight months has been a lie. Everything she has done has been to cover up her deceit. Almost every damn day she watched me play with my own daughter and would then look me in the eye and tell me that she loves me like a sister. She let JR, Adam, and most of Pine Valley think that I had lost my mind because I heard my daughter cry, I saw her face and I took her. Oh! Don't let me forget the icing on this cake. David did another DNA test on Miranda because he had his doubts too. He knew she was mine and decided to keep it quiet after he found out Babe was his daughter."

Kendall could barely process what she was hearing. Before her brain could catch up, she reacted. She turned toward Babe and advanced on her in a one impossibly quick motion. "I can't believe it! You evil, lying, slut, I'll kill you!"

Before she could reach Babe she found herself being pulled back by Bianca but she kept lunging forward. "I knew I was right about you all along! If you thought your wedding was bad, just wait until I get my hands on you now. How could you do this?!"

"KENDALL!" Bianca yelled as she pulled her sister closer to the hotel room door and looked her in the eyes. "Kendall, no. Let me deal with her. I'll even leave David and Krystal for you. But I will deal with Babe. Do me a favor and take Miranda to another room for me. Please?"

Kendall nodded and walked over to the playpen and picked up Miranda as always, but this time she looked upon the little girl in a new light. This was her niece. The baby she fell in love with well before she was ever born. The baby she had mourned by throwing herself into other…contemptible pursuits. The power of the moment brought tears to her eyes. But as she started to leave the room with the baby she switched gears, turned to Babe and said, "You better hope that Bianca rips you apart; because she's the nice one in the family. I'll make you wish you were dead. And I'm thinking the same goes for our mother."

Kendall gave her sister one last poignant look and exited the room, slamming the door behind her.

Bianca turned back Babe who had a deer-caught-in-headlights look and stance. Tears continued to stream down her face.

"My sister doesn't give me enough credit. She forgets that she's not the only one with Erica Kane's ruthless blood running through her veins."

"Bianca, I swear, I wasn't lying when I said I love you like a sister. You're the best friend I've ever had in the world who wasn't Mama. I never wanted to hurt you! Mama didn't either—"

"Was it fun for you?" Bianca interrupted.

"Huh? I—what?" Babe stammered.

"Was it fun for the two of you?" Bianca continued, "Was it fun to watch me talk about the memory of my daughter, to watch me cry over her and then watch me play…with my own child every time I was around you? Was it fun to bring my daughter to her own memorial? Was it fun listening to me say that she was the only thing that kept me alive after the rape and that trial? Was it fun to watch me suffer the full loss of my child feeling like I was alone in the world, while you got to lean on my baby for support?"

The full weight of the hatred Bianca was feeling for Babe started to bear down on her. She felt like she was spitting poison with every word.

"Bianca, of course not! All I ever wanted was for you to have your little girl back. I was scared of JR. I didn't know what he would do to you or Miranda if he found out so I had to find a safe way to tell you! I've been dreaming of the moment you finally got to hold your lil' peanut in your arms and know that she is your baby," Babe was almost pleading with Bianca now, hoping that she would not hate her forever.

"God, I just want to give you a cookie when you say stuff like that!" Bianca shouted. Yes, you proved that you care about me. But only when it was convenient for you, right? Only if and when you had everything that you wanted, right?

"No, Bianca, I don't care about me anymore. I knew you were going to hate me. I just had to make sure I set things right," Babe said as she shook her head no.

Bianca scoffed, "There you go again. I guess I need a whole bag of cookies. Babe the martyr. A victim of JR and circumstances beyond her control. Not able to think or act for herself. Trust me, you and your parents will be the only ones to see it that way. I'm done being your victim. I don't ever want to see you again. And if I were you, I'd stay away from Pine Valley period. Because if you give me the chance I will make your life hell."

Bianca felt her face contort into something so ugly she knew she would not be able to recognize herself if she were looking into a mirror. She continued, her voice rising with each word, "If you come near me, or my family, if you even breathe in the direction of my daughter you will feel my wrath. I will bring down the fist of God. And you had better pray that he grants you mercy because that word is no longer in my vocabulary."

Bianca turned her back and started to walk to the door. At this Babe dissolved and sobbed uncontrollably. She knew this was coming, but she was not prepared for how much it would hurt. She had to plead her case.

Grabbing Bianca's shoulder she said, "Please, Bianca you have to understand. I always had you in mind. I can't lose you, you're too important to me!"

Bianca spun around so fast Babe didn't have time to retreat. Bianca wasn't thinking at this point, just reacting. She wasn't human anymore; all reason within her had ceased. At this moment she was merely an animal acting out of anger and protection. It was as if she was watching herself in slow motion. She saw her right fist raise, swing from her side, and travel a short distance to connect with Babe's jaw.

Taken aback by being punched by her best friend, and the force with which Bianca hit her, Babe collapsed to the floor. She looked up in utter shock as Bianca bent over her and yelled, "Don't you EVER touch me again! I don't care what you think you were doing. I don't care how much you think you care about me, or my daughter. You have no rights to her and you have no right to ever talk to me again. You stay away from us, or you'll look back on the pain you're feeling in your jaw right now as 'the good times.'"

Suddenly the door slammed behind them. As they both looked over they found JR had entered the room without their knowledge. He looked furious.

"I'm tired of this. What is going on here?" he screamed.


End file.
